The Therapist
by Tanesha
Summary: Spike needs help, so he goes and finds it.


The only character that belongs to me is Shayna the rest belong to Joss and co.****Hope you like it.

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The Therapist

Spike drove through LA like a mad man. He couldn't believe it. He could have killed the slayer. He could have ended his torment. And he hadn't. That bitch had had the nerve to claim he wasn't worthy of her. To make him cry. He should have killed her.

A picture of Buffy sitting in her backyard crying flitted through Spike's thoughts and he calmed a bit.

She'd looked so hopeless. So completely weak it was all he could do not to gather her into his arms and hold her. Like some poof. Like Angel.

He couldn't believe he was following in Angel's footsteps. He couldn't believe he'd fallen in love with the slayer. And above all he couldn't believe he'd let her find out.

'Bloody hell Will! You'd think you could show some restraint.'

A mental image of Buffy pushing him away. The look on her face. Those words. "You're beneath me."

"Damn women all to hell!" Spike screeched.

He pulled up across the street from a cheerful looking little cafe, got out of the car and slammed the door. He marched into the tiny cafe and glared at it's occupants. Seated alone by the window was a young woman. Her short brown hair fell in curls along the back of her necks and down her soft round cheeks. Walking over to the booth he plopped down across form her, startling her. 

"Hello love, mind if I sit down?"

Her mouth dropped open and for a few moments she sat stunned, cradling her coffee cup. "Do I know you?" she stammered.

"Probably not. I don't come here very often. Tell me something miss, have you ever been in love?"

"No." She said, still a bit stunned.

"Pity. I've been in love three times in my existence. First girl was a pretty little bitch who thought I was 'beneath her', second was a good looking vampire who ran off with a chaos demon..."

"I'm sorry, did you say vampire?"

"Hush! I'm telling a story. So she runs off with this chaos demon and now I've fallen in love, with of all people, Buffy, the bloody vampire slayer."

Luckily Spike was whispering all this because the cafe wasn't full enough that the noise would have drowned out what he was saying. The young woman across from him didn't look so much frightened as she did amazed.

"So you're a vampire?"

"Right."

"And you fell in love with...?"

"A vampire slayer."

"Tough luck."

"Thanks. But if that wasn't bad enough you'll never guess what she says to me."

"What?" the woman asked, clearly fascinated by the whole thing.

"That I'm 'beneath her'," Spike growled.

"Ouch! So what did you do."

"Tried to kill her. And instead do you know what happens?" The woman shook her head. "I end up sitting on her back porch with her." Spike stopped his rant to stare at the woman he was speaking to for a moment. "You're taking this awfully well," he stated.

"Yeah, well I've had a bad day and this is sort of improving it," she muttered. "My name is Shayna, by the way."

"Spike," he glanced around the cafe. "Could we get out of here? The cheery atmosphere is getting to me."

"Sure," said Shayna standing up and putting on her coat. The two of them moved towards the doors when Shayna suddenly stopped. "Oh, the bill."

"No problem," said Spike. Pulling out a twenty he handed it to a stunned looking waiter then turned and dragged Shayna out the door. "So, as I was saying..." Spike stopped. Shayna was looking at him with an surprised look. "You know love, this is a rather strange time to be bothered by all this."

"Oh it's not that," stammered Shayna. "How do you... I mean how... Where do you get your money from."

Spike stared at her blankly. He thought about telling her he got his money from stealing, but he decided that could be pushing it. "Never mind that. So I'm in love with this slayer, who, if I might add, is a total bitch, and we're fighting in this back alley and well... I tried to make a move. She wasn't so nice about it." 

Spike stopped, surveying Shayna. She was walking with her hands in here pockets looking very comfortable considering the circumstances. "Did you eat back there," he asked her.

"Huh? Oh, no. I was just grabbing a coffee." Spike took Shayna by the elbow and pulled her over to a hot dog stand. "Large hot dog," he barked at the vendor. "Then I decide I'm going to kill her, so I go home to get my gun. My girlfriend wouldn't stop telling me how I was going to get my ass kicked, you'd think she'd have a bit more faith in me." 

Spike stopped talking to pay the very stunned vendor who was holding out the hot dog. As they walked away Shayna took the opportunity to put in a few words. 

"Spike you just gave that guy a ten for a lousy hot dog, and what do you mean your girlfriend?"

"My childe actually and don't worry about the money."

"You sleep with your kid?" Shayna gasped.

"No love. Childe. C-H-I-L-D-E. Not child. It means I made her into a vampire," Spike chuckled.

"But you don't love her?" Shayna inquired.

"Ha," Spike laughed. "That dits? She was for shagging. Strictly for shagging."

"Oh. So went to get your gun..."

"And I go over to Buffy's house, ready to blow the bitch away. I went into her backyard and she's sitting right there, balling her eyes out, not even looking at me till the last minute... And I put the gun down and ask her what's wrong. Then I sat on the porch with her for a few hours."

"You two just sat there all night?"

"Well we talked a little."

There was a pause and neither Spike nor Shayna said anything. Then Shayna asked in a whisper, "What'd she say when she saw the gun?"

Spike laughed. "Buffy? Asked me what I was doing with it?"

"And what did you tell her?"

"Squirrel hunting. Told her I was squirrel hunting."

"And she believed you?" Shayna asked incredulously.

Spike didn't answer. He was searching the crowded sidewalk nervously. "I don't suppose you have any place we could go and talk?"

Shayna blinked at him, surprised by the sudden change in subject. "You mean like my apartment?"

"That'd be good," Spike said still glancing nervously around. 

"Is there something wrong?"

"What? Uh, I mean where's this apartment?" Spike demanded, jumping. 

Shayna eyed him suspiciously. "My apartment's just down the block. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Just down the block? Don't you have something further away?"

Shayna looked around to see if she could see anything that could possibly be frightening a vampire. She didn't. "Oh, sure. Of course I have a second apartment," she replied.

Spike didn't appear to hear her, so she grabbed his hand and started leading him towards her apartment. Spike kept glancing around nervously. When they arrived at Shayna's apartment Shayna stopped to consider what she was about to do. She was going to let a vampire into her house. Her home. 'Oh, fuck it,' she thought and unlocked the door. She and Spike walked up the stairs, Spike a little less nervous. When they reached her apartment Shayna once again paused a few minutes before inviting Spike inside.

Her apartment wasn't necessarily a mess, but it wasn't very neat. There were two tables in the living room, both with clutters of ornaments on them. The farthest wall was mostly a window with a set of green blinds. There was a dark blue couch with a matching love seat and a black lazy boy. Shayna didn't know why she had so much furniture since she almost never had company.

Spike looked the apartment over then plopped down on the love seat. "So where was I?"

"Having a panic attack for no apparent reason," Shayna replied smugly.

Spike glared at her. "Cheeky, aren't you? Oh right. Squirrels. After that we sat on the steps for a while and talked, then she went in and went to bed." 

Spike appeared to be more at ease now, though Shayna couldn't imagine what had made him so nervous in the first place. "And you went home?" she inquired.

Spike stared at her. "No." Spike didn't seem to have any emotional backdrop to that reply. She started to wonder if he had any shame.

"So what **did** you do?"

Spike stared up at her, unblinking. "We should really do this again some time love," he said as he hoped off the couch and headed for the door.

Now Shayna was really curious. "Spike what did you..." The vampire walked out and closed the door before she could finish.

Shayna stood there for a while milling over what had just happened. More than any thing she was confused, but one thing she knew for sure Spike would be back.

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My friend says she's going to write the part on the steps involving squirrels so check and see. Search under author for Arwen.


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